Merry Clayton
Merry Clayton |
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Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948 in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana) has had a rich career as an American soul and gospel singer (both solo and back-up), and an actress. She provided a number of back-up vocal tracks to songs recorded by major performing artists during the 1960s. [1]
Clayton began her recording career in 1962 at the relatively young age of fourteen by singing "You're the Reason I'm Living" as a duet with Bobby Darin. A year later, she recorded the first version of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", although it was Betty Everett's version of the same year that reached the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Her early career included performances with artists including Ray Charles (as one of The Raelettes), Pearl Bailey, Elvis Presley, Phil Ochs, and Burt Bacharach. She co-wrote the song "Sho' Nuff" — which is about her mother — with Billy Preston [in 1971]. [3]
Clayton is known widely for her powerfully-sung duet with Mick Jagger on The Rolling Stones' song "Gimme Shelter" on their Let It Bleed album release in 1969. (Originally, the Stones had intended to have Bonnie Bramlett sing, but Bramlett was not available, possibly due to illness.)[4] |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070306031610/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=10760 |title=For Clayton, the gloom is gone |work=Los Angeles Times Archived at Rock's Backpages Library |date=1986-03-13}}</ref> Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".[5] Also, early in her career, Clayton sang backup vocals for Tom Jones, Joe Cocker and Carole King. She also originated the role of the Acid Queen in the original 1972 London production of The Who's Tommy. More recently, Clayton has provided background vocals for Sparta's latest album Threes on the songs "Atlas" and "Translation". As an actress, she co-starred with Ally Sheedy in the 1987 film Maid to Order, and played Verna Dee Jordan in the final season of Cagney & Lacey.
Clayton sang "You're Always There When I Need You," the main title for 1980's The Nude Bomb, Agent 86's only romp on the big screen. Merry also sang the song "Yes" that was in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing and also featured on the soundtrack album. She also recorded backing vocals for Tori Amos on her 1994 hit, Cornflake Girl.
Clayton also sang backup on several tracks from Neil Young's debut album "Neil Young", originally released in 1968.
Personal life
Clayton was married to jazz artist Curtis Amy until his death in 2002 [6]. Clayton's brother is the Little Feat percussionist Sam Clayton [7].
References
- ^ True, Christopher. Merry Clayton Biography. Allmusic. AOL Music http://music.aol.com/artist/merry-clayton/biography/1049777
- ^ No. 1 in May 1991, an excerpt from The Best Of 1000 UK No.1 Hits published by Omnibus Press
- ^ Heckman, Don. "Merry Clayton from 'Newahlins.'" New York Times (July 16, 1972): p. D11, D22, D24.
- ^ Paytress, Mark. The Rolling Stones: Off the Record. Omnibus Press, 2003 (ISBN 07119886920): p. 181.
- ^ Dupree, Tom (1974-10-24). "Lynyrd Skynyrd in Sweet Home Atlanta". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
- ^ Voce, Steve. "Obituary: Curtis Amy." The Independent [London] (June 11, 2002; accessed: May 14, 2008)
- ^ Crazy Horse, Kandia. Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock N Roll. 1st ed. Plagrave Macmillan, 2004. (ISBN 140396243X): p. 205.
External links
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